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Old hydrant water may prove veterans were poisoned in Oscoda

OSCODA, MI — Investigators say decades-old water found inside forgotten fire hydrants at the former Wurtsmith Air Force base may prove to be the best evidence yet that military veterans and families stationed in northern Michigan were drinking water poisoned by an emergent class of toxic chemicals….

'We've been betrayed:' Veterans blame Air Force base water for chronic diseases

SCODA, MI — Traci Kroushour is 39 and will never have children.

That’s not by choice. All she ever wanted was to become a mother. But Kroushour’s uterus was removed at age 28 after two miscarriages and a lifetime of chronic ailments like bone death, fibromyalgia, irregular heartbeat, gastrointestinal problems and underdeveloped reproductive organs.

Did Wurtsmith Air Force Base Cause Health Woes?

OSCODA — For years, Tammy Dumaresq and her family spent time at a family cabin on Alvin Road, about 2 miles from the now-shuttered Wurtsmith Air Force Base, swimming nearby in the pond created by the Foote Dam.

In 1991, Dumaresq and her family moved to Oscoda, just a few miles from picturesque Lake Huron.

“That was part of the reason to come to town, because the house values dropped after the base closure and made it so affordable,” she said.

Both Dumaresq’s son, who was a year old when they moved to the area, and a daughter born in 1997, were later diagnosed with problems with their thyroids, glands in the neck that secrete important hormones related to growth and metabolism. Dumaresq said her daughter was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder causing chronic inflammation and ultimate failure of the thyroid gland.

PFCS: GLOBAL CONTAMINANTS: PFC HEALTH CONCERNS

In new laboratory work scientists find that low doses of PFOA harm lab animals — at estimated blood levels lower than those found in some children. The government initiated in-depth analyses of human risk on receiving 3M lab studies in May 2001. And now, with calculated risks to human health far too high, the government is poised to demand rare, expedited assessments.

Industry’s most recent study shows organ weight changes — often a gross sign of toxicity and damage to organ function — among lab animals exposed to PFOA in the womb and into early adulthood. [Organ weight effects in: males | females] [Mortality and sexual development: Extract | Full document] Some human children and adults have more PFOA in their blood than the estimated levels for the animals in this study. Under duress from the Environmental Protection Agency, 3M and DuPont are handing over unprecedented amounts of health and safety data — some 50,000 pages worth to date.